This field relates to the fields of both firearms and photography, an particularly, relates to an improved device and method for photographing a firearm target in connection with the shooting thereof.
Game hunting is a popular recreational pastime in the United States and many other countries of the world. Hunters have long prized their kills beyond their value as food and/or skin, and it is common practice, for example, to mount the head of a deer or other hunting xe2x80x9ckillxe2x80x9d on a wall as a trophy, to display one""s past successes. Even more interest can be added, however, if the hunter has a simple, straightforward way to photograph his or her prey/target just before, during, and/or after the kill, as desired by the hunter.
Even for practice purposes, the ability to photograph a target in connection with the firing of a shot can assist the hunter to improve his or her accuracy and adjust his or her rifle scope, by providing an independent photographic record of what was viewed through the scope just as a shot was fired, in contrast with where the shot actually struck on the target.
The ability to photograph a target in connection with the shooting thereof has possible military and law-enforcement applications as well. For example, the evidentiary record for recent high-profile court cases involving controversial shootings of citizens by law-enforcement personnel could have been greatly enhanced if the weapons used in these shootings had produced photographs of the target at the time of the shooting.
Several prior art devices do combine a rifle and rifle scope with a photographic camera, yet all of these devices have severe limitations that make them very cumbersome to use and also limit the flexibility of the shooter to precisely determine the timing of the photographic activity in relation to the firing of the weapon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,262, for example, discloses a still picture camera (30) mounted onto a special housing (12) which is in turn mounted onto a standard telescopic sight (20). The housing (12) transfers the image of the target through the sight (20) to the camera (30) (column 3, lines 52-56). The camera (30) is a separate, conventional camera which is activated to photograph a single still image when the rifle trigger (11B) is pulled to fire a shot, via a cable mechanism (30B) connecting the trigger (11B) to the shutter release (30A) of the camera (30) (column 4, lines 39-50).
This device requires an unnatural and cumbersome modification to the rifle, since one must mount a separate camera housing (12) as well as a separate camera (30) to the rifle sight (20). This adds extra steps to the assembly of the rifle, and it substantially alters both the shape and the weight distribution of the telescopic sight. In addition, the cable connection (30B) between trigger (11B) and shutter release (30A) of the camera (30) adds even further work to the assembly of the rifle, and places a new, potentially interfering device (cable (30B)) in direct contact with the trigger. Further, a trigger-activated approach such as disclosed in this patent would not enable the hunter to precisely fine tune the instant at which the photograph is taken relative to the firing of the shot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,095 discloses a camera mounting bracket (18) which supports a camera (12) in substantially parallel orientation to the line of sight of the telescopic sight (16). As in U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,062, the camera (12) is activated by means of a cable connection (24) to the rifle trigger (30) using a plunger-type button (32). This too makes setup more cumbersome, interferes with the trigger, and limits the opportunity to fine tune the instant at which the photograph is take relative to the actual firing of a shot. By requiring a bracket (18) separate from the sight (16), as well as a separate camera (12), the rifle setup remains more cumbersome than a conventional (camera-less) setup, and the shape and weight distribution of the rifle and rifle scope are altered. Additionally, since the camera (12) in this arrangement does not obtain its photographic image through the scope, one further needs to ensure proper camera alignment with respect to the line of sight, and one could not obtain a substantially xe2x80x9cexactxe2x80x9d replica of what the hunter saw through the scope just as the shot was fired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,644, is simply a rifle simulation, wherein the camera is again trigger activated, and wherein the rifle and scope, when assembled for photography, is much more cumbersome than a conventional rifle and scope.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,545,356; 3,785,261; 3,911,451; 4,936,190; 4,970,589; and 5,285,273 all appear to combine a telescope and camera site with a firearm, however, they lack sequential timing for photography and the recording of photographic information at specified time intervals.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a means and method for taking pictures of a target proximate the instant at which a shot is fired from a weapon that does not require any connection to or activation from the rifle trigger.
It would further be desirable to eliminate the need for a separate camera and camera housing.
It would further be desirable to take these pictures through a fully-integrated photographic rifle scope that combines all necessary telescopic and photographic components into a complete, compact unitary device that is substantially identical in shape and weight distribution to a conventional, camera-less rifle scope.
It would further be desirable to enable the shooter to fine tune with precision, the exact instant at which the target photograph is taken in relation to the firing of the rifle.
It would further be desirable to enable a weapon such as a pistol, which does not ordinarily have a telescopic scope, to nevertheless take photographs of its target at or near the time of shooting.
One embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is a telescopic rifle scope/sight which is fully integrated with a compact digital camera, and which has size, shape and weight characteristics that are substantially the same as those of a conventional, camera-less telescopic scope. To configure the weapon for photography and firing, the scope is simply placed on the rifle in the same manner as a conventional scope without any additional steps, and the rifle is then fired in the conventional manner.
An alternative embodiment of the invention eliminates the telescopic rifle scope, but maintains the compact digital camera. This embodiment is particularly useful in combination with pistols and similar small-scale firearms which ordinarily do not include a telescopic scope, and in which the shooter views the target directly without the aid of a scope. To configure the weapon for this embodiment, the digital camera and other related components are simply placed on the pistol or similar firearm using a suitable mount. Alternatively, a pistol or similar firearm can be manufactured at the outset to include the digital camera and the other related components of this embodiment.
In the telescopic sight embodiments, the compact digital camera is preferably initiated by an infrared detector which detects body heat from the hunter""s face when the rifle is moved into position for firing and the hunter""s eye is moved into position for viewing thorough the scope. Once initiated, the digital camera photographs a series of images spaced apart from one another by fractions of a second (i.e., at a given frame rate such as, for example, 30 frames per second), and stores these images in an image memory. The hunter then pulls the trigger and fires the rifle in the conventional way. Once the shot is fired, an acoustic detector, or, alternatively, an acceleration detector detects either the sharp sound of the firing or the recoil due to the firing, and sends a signal to the digital camera to permanently record one or more of the images it contains.
In the embodiments that eliminate the telescopic scope, initiation preferably takes place by detecting the removal of the pistol from its holster or other concealed location, using optical or kinetic detection means.
By timing the recording of the photograph with reference to the actual crack of the firing, or the actual recoil of the firing, and by having information on the distance of the target and the speed of the ammunition, this device enables the hunter to fine tune the precise instant at which a photograph is recorded relative to both the firing of the weapon and the bullet striking its target. Further, no cumbersome and interfering connection need be established between trigger and camera.